When looking for a merchant service provider, business owners may already have their own set of criteria they want to match. Other business owners may not know exactly what they want, and just want to find the best deal with a reliable merchant processing company. Whichever side you are on, here are five basic questions you should ask any provider you’re considering:

Are Your Services PCI Compliant?

When it comes to information security standards, your business is required to be PCI compliant, but merchant service providers are not. Because many business owners assume providers are held to this same standard, most don’t even think about asking the question. For the sake of protecting your business and cardholders’ information, it’s always good to ask the question and only work with providers that are PCI compliant.

What Contract Does Your Company Offer?

Never let yourself get burned by absurd requirements hidden in contracts. There are some shady providers out there that will hide fees and other stipulations in their contracts and never tell you about them. Business owners should always read the fine print before signing any contract for merchant processing. You want an agreement that is both reasonable and flexible.

Are Your Services Compatible With All Payment Systems?

Compatibility is also something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Some payment processing services use their own proprietary systems, which may not work with existing online software. Ensuring a provider is compatible with your system beforehand will save some hassle later on - unless, of course, you want to change your system.

What Fees Do You Charge?

Fees are obviously an extremely important consideration to make. Every merchant processing service will charge transaction fees and cancellation fees, but the amount of those fees could differ. There may also be other fees associated with operating the system, whether it’s a one-time setup fee or a monthly operating cost. Once you get an idea of the fees different companies charge, you can do a cost comparison. Just remember that even a fraction of a percent difference in fees can lead to significant cost differences in the future.

What Businesses Do You Work With?

Referrals are always great to have. As a small business owner, if a merchant service provider works with multiple small businesses, then chances are they have something attractive about them. Don’t hesitate to ask for a list of the companies a provider works with, and then reach out to those companies to get a sense of what they like and don’t like about their payment processing services.

Precision Payment Systems offers merchant services for business owners like you. We constantly work with our clients to help them get the lowest rate and offer the best solutions and equipment to grow along with your business. Plus, you can schedule a free consultation to ask us these questions and any others you can think of. To learn more about how our services can benefit your business, contact us today.